This week the Bengals (4-2) travel to Kansas City (5-1) to play the Chiefs on Sunday Night Football. Kansas City suffered its first loss of the season this past week on SNF, 43-40, to the Patriots. Cincinnati is coming off a 28-21 loss to Pittsburgh.

Let’s take a deeper analytical look at both teams.

Notable Bengals

OFFENSE

Tyler Boyd. He’s tied with Andy Dalton as the highest graded Bengals offensive player this year. But more than that, his efficiency pops off the charts beyond Cincinnati. Boyd is second in the NFL in passer rating when thrown to this year behind only Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill, out of the top 28 qualifying receivers. He’s second among that group in catch percentage, snagging 78 percent of his targets. He’s also one of four of the group without a drop. He’s one of the most efficient and effective receivers in the NFL this year by nearly every metric.

DEFENSE

Dre Kirkpatrick. Don’t look now, but Kirkpatrick has become one of the best corners in the NFL in terms of incomplete passes on targets. Of the 34 cornerbacks in the NFL who have been targeted at least 30 times, Dre Kirkpatrick leads the league in smallest percentage of completions allowed. Kirkpatrick has allowed 16 completions on 40 targets. That’s a 40 percent completion rate. The next closest are Dallas’ Morris Claiborne at 43 percent and Kansas City’s Orlando Scandrick at 46 percent. Kirkpatrick is still the eighth most targeted corner in the NFL overall, but nobody has sent the opposing team back to the line of scrimmage at a higher rate.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) calls a play before the snap during the Week 6 NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. It was tied 14-14 at the half. (Photo: Kareem Elgazzar)

QB Analytics

Where has Bill Lazor been most effective in working with Andy Dalton this year? Part of the equations comes in accentuating his excellence in a quick-timing offense. He’s always been among the quickest snap to throw in the NFL and that’s the case again this year. In fact, Dalton leads the NFL in fastest average time from snap to pass at 2.36 seconds. Tom Brady is second at 2.37. A total of 59 percent of his drop backs feature the ball out is 2.5 seconds or less. On those plays, he is completing 71 percent of passes for a rating of 103.4. On plays when he doesn’t get the ball out in 2.5 seconds or less, he has a 56 percent completion rate and 81.5 rating. He’s been better at making something out of those improv plays, but establishing his quick-passing rhythm has been a huge part of Dalton’s overall success.

Opponent numbers of note

QB Patrick Mahomes. When you can wing it the way Mahomes does, you do so. A lot. That’s been the case. He’s thrown more deep passes (20-plus yards in air) than anyone else in the NFL and completed more than anyone else. He’s 20 of 39 for 655 yards, eight touchdowns and zero interceptions throwing the ball long down the field.

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) makes a catch deep over the middle in the first quarter of the NFL Preseason Week 2 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Kansas City Chiefs at Paul Brown Stadium in downtown Cincinnati on Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017. At halftime the Bengals trailed 16-9.(Photo: Sam Greene)

TE Travis Kelce. The University of Cincinnati product is the most targeted tight end out of the slot in the NFL (29 percent), with Philadephia’s Zach Ertz next on the list. He also ranks second among qualifying tight ends in yards per route run, trailing only O.J. Howard, of Tampa Bay.

MLB Anthony Hitchens. He’s been a popular target among opposing offenses and a big part of the problem for the Chiefs defense. He’s allowed 39 of 42 passes thrown at him to be completed and is the lowest graded player on the Chiefs defense. He’s allowed 410 yards in passes this year and a passer rating when targeted of over 100 in every single game.

Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon (28) is stopped on a run in the fourth quarter during the Week 6 NFL game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati. The Pittsburgh Steelers won 28-21. (Photo: Kareem Elgazzar)

Premium stat of the week

Elusive rating

The elusive rating looks at the success and impact of a runner with the ball independent of blocking in front of him by how hard he was to bring down.

It takes into account missed tackles forced, total rushes plus receptions and the yards after contact.

It’s made for interesting input about Joe Mixon and Kareem Hunt, who will go head to head this week. Of the 22 running backs with enough touches to be considered feature backs, Mixon ranks last in the league in elusive rating (21.0). Meanwhile, Hunt ranks third (85.0) behind only Saquon Barkley and James Conner. In 84 touches, Mixon has only forced seven missed tackles and none on his 13 receptions. Hunt has forced 29 in his 103 touches.

Despite the lack of elusiveness, Mixon is still averaging 4.6 yards per carry and 7.6 yards per reception. A sign of his ability to stay away from tacklers altogether and to the space he’s been provided by the offensive line and through the scheme.